Virtual guitar amps/analog guitar amps

DM60 said:
Yes they are, Texas doesn't have any! Except where planted and watered. Starting in East Texas and into Arkansas, one begins to notice the vegetation change. Mainly that there are things growing.

From what I know, and I lived in Texas for about 15 years, I think no other state can rival the Texas music scene. From hardcore metal, to Texas Swing, Latino, various types of country, Jazz and Orchestra, Texas has a very vibrant and rich music scene.

I learned this first hand when I moved down to DFW in the early 80's. I took my rock collection (including Deep Purple) cause I thought there were no rock stations. Turned out they had three!

I don't live there any more, I didn't care for it (same reason you didn't like the north, except opposite, trees and grass) but to dispel a common misconception about Texas. You want to play a new kind of music, don't go to LA, Nashville or NYC, go to Texas. For weird shit, Dallas/Houston/Austin) (For the record, when I lived there, Denton was just a tiny DFW suburb ;) )
Click to expand...

East Texas has a fucking shit ton of trees, and east Texas is also roughly the size of California, so that's a lot of trees and green shit. If you draw a line from like Houston to Waco to Dallas/Ft Worth, everything east of that is a forest. As you head west of that line, it starts to get more and more like a desert landscape. Hilly, more shrubbery, less big trees, less green. The gulf coast is just like any other tropical coastal climate - flat, very green, lots of trees, grass, fields, and rivers. And I haven't even gotten to the Texas wildflowers in the spring. Just like people flock to new england to see the leaves change colors in the fall, you should see this fucking place in the spring. It's a fucking clusterfuck of people driving 5 mph leaning out of their windows to take pictures of the literally endless sea of very colorful flowers. As far as you can see, it's like a box of crayons exploded all over the ground. It's crazy, and it's really pretty damn beautiful. So no, Texas aint no desolate roadrunner cartoon. Some parts of it are, but it's actually very diverse.

Imagine this, but at about the size of, say, Maine.
Coast+162.jpg
 
Greg_L said:
East Texas has a fucking shit ton of trees, and east Texas is also roughly the size of California, so that's a lot of trees and green shit. If you draw a line from like Houston to Waco to Dallas/Ft Worth, everything east of that is a forest. As you head west of that line, it starts to get more and more like a desert landscape. Hilly, more shrubbery, less big trees, less green. The gulf coast is just like any other tropical coastal climate - flat, very green, lots of trees, grass, fields, and rivers. And I haven't even gotten to the Texas wildflowers in the spring. Just like people flock to new england to see the leaves change colors in the fall, you should see this fucking place in the spring. It's a fucking clusterfuck of people driving 5 mph leaning out of their windows to take pictures of the literally endless sea of very colorful flowers. As far as you can see, it's like a box of crayons exploded all over the ground. It's crazy, and it's really pretty damn beautiful. So no, Texas aint no desolate roadrunner cartoon. Some parts of it are, but it's actually very diverse.

Imagine this, but at about the size of, say, Maine.
Click to expand...

I said starting in East Texas, but they are mainly pine trees. My nephew went to Stephen F. Austin school there in East Texas, they were known as the lumber jacks. (During my nephew's graduation, I kept thinking of Monty Python's "He's a Lumber Jack" song)

The wildflowers are actually a project started by Lady Bird Johnson (70's I think), then taken over by the Texas University System, that is why there are so many on the highways. But in general, it is still an ugly state, even the hill country. The hill country only looks good cause it it is surrounded by so much ugly. But, it does have probably the best music scene.

Now back to our regularly schedule thread.
 
SFA huh? That's an interesting school. Lots of blacks go there, in the heart of KKK country. Lol. It's true, Texas it is relatively ugly. It's no, I don't know, Colorado or whatever. I don't fucking care. I pay no state income tax, I'm an hour from coastal fishing, it never fucking snows, I can play golf all year long, my gas is cheap, my house is cheap, my local economy is great, I eat steak every weekend, and we all use real amps down here. Vive le Texas! :D
 
Greg_L said:
SFA huh? That's an interesting school. Lots of blacks go there, in the heart of KKK country. Lol. It's true, Texas it is relatively ugly. It's no, I don't know, Colorado or whatever. I don't fucking care. I pay no state income tax, I'm an hour from coastal fishing, it never fucking snows, I can play golf all year long, my gas is cheap, my house is cheap, my local economy is great, I eat steak every weekend, and we all use real amps down here. Vive le Texas! :D
Click to expand...

I don't know about the first part, but everything else you said is true. One thing I can say about taxes, while there are no income taxes in Texas, sales and property taxes are a lot more there than other areas (I'm not talking about New York, that state is controlled by the city for the most part).

However, back to the subject at hand. I think the major difference between sims and real amps is the player. Me, I play guitar, but I am not a guitar player. I think most people can relate to that statement. I can see guitar players favoring real amps. It makes sense, they want performance, they want a certain sound and they become one with their rig (it is who they are), that is why that are so F'in good. A guy like me, I play guitar, just looking for a sound, I'm never going to be able to kill it, I don't want to as I am learning keyboards, bass, MIDI, whatever, so I will never be a guitar player. I like the sims. I don't have a deep knowledge of amps and speakers I don't want to get stuck with one amp and don't want to pay for many amps, pedals, etc (they cost a lot!). So, not to sound like Switzerland, I can see both points of view and both are valid. But I do think the divide starts at, do I play or am I a player. I just play.
 
DM60 said:
However, back to the subject at hand. I think the major difference between sims and real amps is the player. Me, I play guitar, but I am not a guitar player. I think most people can relate to that statement. I can see guitar players favoring real amps. It makes sense, they want performance, they want a certain sound and they become one with their rig (it is who they are), that is why that are so F'in good. A guy like me, I play guitar, just looking for a sound, I'm never going to be able to kill it, I don't want to as I am learning keyboards, bass, MIDI, whatever, so I will never be a guitar player. I like the sims. I don't have a deep knowledge of amps and speakers I don't want to get stuck with one amp and don't want to pay for many amps, pedals, etc (they cost a lot!). So, not to sound like Switzerland, I can see both points of view and both are valid. But I do think the divide starts at, do I play or am I a player. I just play.
Click to expand...

I would agree with all that for recording. In the the home recording world we all mostly have to wear every hat there is so sims can come in very handy. But this is about playing live. If you were a gigging guitarist, do you think you'd rather use a real amp, or use 1s and 0s?
 
Greg_L said:
I would agree with all that for recording. In the the home recording world we all mostly have to wear every hat there is so sims can come in very handy. But this is about playing live. If you were a gigging guitarist, do you think you'd rather use a real amp, or use 1s and 0s?
Click to expand...

If I was a "real guitar" player, I know I would lean towards real amps. It just makes sense that a true blue guitar player, not being insulting, but people who love their guitars would want real stuff. I just purchased IK's guitar amp suite for guitar and bass and it is awesome (not an endorsement, just really like the flexibility). The different sounds you get, just incredible. But, to push the argument around, when I want a "real" sound, I go back to my acoustic. Nothing like the sound of aged wood, the sound you get when you hit the strings the personality that comes out with the acoustic. Just you and the instrument. Take that attitude to a e-guitar player, I see the point for real amps.

I've been a computer guy since the 80's, started playing music on computers in the late 80's. Sometimes I want something between a 1 and a 0. I think it is called personality of the sound. As good as they are, computers just can't get there.
 
Does anyone here know what Trans-Siberian Orchestra use for their guitars? There are no amps on stage at all, all the sound comes from the PA.
Chris Caffery uses Les Pauls and a Flying V-style guitar (and a strat for one song), Joel Hoekstra uses Les Pauls mostly.
 
mjbphotos said:
Does anyone here know what Trans-Siberian Orchestra use for their guitars? There are no amps on stage at all, all the sound comes from the PA.
Chris Caffery uses Les Pauls and a Flying V-style guitar (and a strat for one song), Joel Hoekstra uses Les Pauls mostly.
Click to expand...

That show is so rehearsed, I wouldn't be surprised that they don't really play, just look like they are. :o
 
DM60 said:
That show is so rehearsed, I wouldn't be surprised that they don't really play, just look like they are. :o
Click to expand...

Yeah, this. I'd bet that show is a whole big pile of backing tracks. I don't know for sure though.

As far as there being no amps on stage, lots of bands do that. I saw AC/DC a few years ago - Angus's rig was nowhere to be found. I really doubt he was using a modeler. Lol. I know pretty certain that his rig is under the stage in it's own little room. Malcom Young stands right in front of his stacks, but Angus has no on-stage gear. Those giant stadium acts don't need their gear on stage because the space is huge. They could get away with using modeling because it's all PA in places like that. But they still use real amps. Slash uses real amps. Yngwie uses real amps. Satriani. EVH. All of those hideously wanky guitar "gods" use real amps. Great players in huge venues that could easily get away with using artificial amplification still use real amps. Noise rockers, like J Mascis, he uses real amps. He uses a pedal board that would scare NASA, but it's all going into real amps. Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth, another noise maker, real amps. Even The Edge who's sound relies heavily on effects and a giant pile of rack shit - it all goes to real amps. Amps, motherfuckers! Amps! Use amps!
 
With TSO, everyone on stage is playing, but there are still tons of backing tracks. The whole thing is rehearsed to death because the entire show (lights, pyro, staging, etc...) is synched to the songs. The whole thing is to a click. I've got an email into Joel to see what he's using for that show.
 
Farview said:
With TSO, everyone on stage is playing, but there are still tons of backing tracks. The whole thing is rehearsed to death because the entire show (lights, pyro, staging, etc...) is synched to the songs. The whole thing is to a click. I've got an email into Joel to see what he's using for that show.
Click to expand...
Yea, that has to be such a well oiled machine. Too much going on (and money invested) to leave it to chance.
 
Fo TSO. and Rock of Ages he uses a fractal amp sim. For Night Ranger he uses a 5150 and a Custom Audio Amplifier. This is for the same reasons I explained on the last page, too many different sounds are needed for everything other than Night Ranger, where he just uses a real amp.
 
miroslav said:
I guess if you sold them.....that must mean people are still buying and using them. :)
Click to expand...
Yes, I’m sure people are still using the nice warm sounding analog dinosaurs, but in my case the buyers were more interested in vintage collectables. I’m just glad I got rid of the Memorymoog before it had to go into the shop. The OB-8 had already died and I wasn’t looking forward to paying the repair bill. :)
 
DM60 said:
That show is so rehearsed, I wouldn't be surprised that they don't really play, just look like they are. :o
Click to expand...
I'm sure you're just joking. ;) You could say the same about half the acts in stadiums these days and might not be far off. I mean even Rush was using backing tracks when I saw them last time.
I was in row 3, TSO were definitely playing. Check out some of the videos I shot HERE

Greg_L said:
They could get away with using modeling because it's all PA in places like that.
Click to expand...

You kind of counterpoint the argument you've been making all along here. Sure, they use real amps - understage, in iso-boxes, or in stacks, but they don't NEED to.
 
Don't twist my words. I didn't counterpoint myself. Bands that could get away with using modeling don't. They still choose real amps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top